Mark reached over, pulling the blanket up farthur over Corey's still form. After the outing to the pool earlier, the boy had nearly not been able to make it back to the room. After much coercing and perhaps even a small amount of threats, they had managed to get him to motivate himself long enough to wash the chlorine from his hair and skin and pull on a pair of shorts. That's as far as he had gotten before collapsing into bed. Unfortunately, it hadn't been *his* bed he'd fallen into... it was Mark's. Ah well... he easily consigned himself to sleeping in the chair instead. Mark smiled, moving away silently and turning off the light on that side of the room. A light breeze blew in through the balcony door, carrying with it soft voices. Nuriko and Ren... they'd been out there for quite some time talking. After Corey had passed out, they had stepped outside so as not to disturb him. They had a lot to talk about... even in the past, they'd been staunch friends.

The healer glanced about, crouching and clicking his tongue gently against the roof of his mouth. Tama-Neko had disappeared soon after they'd gotten back... and now he was starting to worry about the cat. He knocked softly on the door to the adjoining room and slipped within as it opened beneath his touch. "Cheree..." He whispered. "Have you seen-..." He stopped then, seeing the girl asleep on the bed, Tama-Neko curled up beside her into a ball of ears and furr. As the cat heard his voice, the small head lifted and a low 'mrowl' could be heard. Mark brought his finger to his lips, trying to shush the creature, but it was too late. Cheree sat up, rubbing her eyes and glancing around until her gaze came to rest on Mark.

"Oh... `m sorry... must've fallen asleep." She mumbled, glancing to the clock.

"It's alright... I was looking for Tama-Neko, but he seems to have found his sleeping spot." He smiled, pointing to the cat who had already fallen back to sleep.

"Oh no..." She lifted the cat gently, leaning over the side of the bed and placing him on the floor. "Love ya, kitty, but if you sleep up here, I'll be in bad shape in the morning." As she sat back, Mark saw the puffiness around her eyes and the telltale redness that almost looked as if she'd been crying.

"Oh god, I didn't realize you were allergic..."

She stopped him with a smile, waving her hand absently towards him. "Ah, it's alright. I *did* call him over, after all. He didn't realize not to sleep with me." By now, the cat was looking up at her forlornly and let out a mew that made him seem for all the world to be the most neglected little kitten on the face of the earth. Cheree froze, not moving although she turned her gaze down towards him. "That's not fair..." The cat accepted the 'apology' and jumped back up on the bed, curling up in Cheree's lap. With a sigh, she looked up at Mark. "I'm not winning this one, am I?"

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Not unless I lock him in the other room. And even if I did that, he'd likely try and claw through the door. Again, I'm sorry... if I'd known you were allergic to him, I'd have kept him in the other room."

"No harm done... not like you can tell a cat where it can't go anyway."

"True enough." He sat down on the other bed, facing her and lifting a brow faintly. "I have to ask you... do you truly trust Nakago to keep his word?"

Cheree blinked, looking up at the sudden change of topic. "That was sudden." She thought for a moment, letting her hand trail over the cat's fur. "I look at it this way... what's he got to lose? If what he told me was the truth, and I think it is, he'll stand a better chance of getting what he wants by helping us."

"And what of the other Seiryuu?"

"That, I don't know. Right now, Amiboshi's in New York, Suboshi's in Japan. That's two down. He mentioned Miboshi, but nothing about Tomo, Soi or Ashitare. To be honest, I have no idea how many of the Seiryuu have awakened. But if they needed the shinzaho, then they're missing at least one, with no hope of recovery. Which means that they've lost one to death or other reasons." She thought a moment, then corrected herself. "Or, they didn't feel like waiting for the others to show up."

Mark nodded, looking down to his hands which were clasped before him. "The others are willing to trust your judgement, as am I. But I have to tell you that Ren isn't happy with this. Neither is Nuriko, after the attack the other day."

Cheree sighed, looking down at the cat as she tried to sort her thoughts. She hadn't expected them all to just believe her, but something in her said that Nicholas/Nakago could be trusted this time. "I'm just hoping that we can keep those two in line long enough for Chris to get back with the others." After she'd gotten over the shock of him leaving the way he did, she simply refused to believe that he could have failed. He'd be back, lively as ever. She could picture it now... him with that grin, waltzing back in the door with Tamahome and Hotohori in tow. A smile crossed her face at the thought. Yes... he'd be back. He was too stubborn to fail.

A sudden knock at her door caused her to jump, and she saw the same startlement in Mark as he rose to his feet and went to answer it. As he pulled the door open, Nicholas came into view, blue eyes glancing into the room and resting on Cheree. "I got one of them."

Mark had gone to get Ren and Nuriko while Nicholas moved to one of the chairs, falling into it. After they were all assembled... even Corey had stumbled out of bed for this one... Nicholas had told them how he'd gotten hold of the necklace that he now handed to Cheree.

"Miboshi knew I was up to something, he just couldn't figure out what. Once he finds this missing, however, he'll know... and I'd rather Suzaku be summoned before that happens."

Cheree brought up one finger, as if to pause him, her brow furrowed. "Speaking of Miboshi... just what does he look like this time around?"

Nicholas glanced towards her, shaking his head softly. "He was in the body of a teenage boy when I was last there... but he was talking about having Tomo help him switch. He found Seiryuu no Miko... we all could feel that it was indeed her. However, she is being rather stubborn about helping." He smirked faintly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I've been dropping hints to her that Miboshi is only out for himself and that she'll get kicked to the side once she agrees to help. It's keeping things a bit interesting, I must say. But Miboshi thinks that if he takes control of her body, HE can perform the ritual... and I can't say that he's entirely wrong."

That brought about a groan from Ren, who until now had stayed silent. "So that half-pint freak is going to possess a girl so that he doesn't have to worry about having a willing Miko. Great."

"Nicholas..." Cheree interrupted, cutting off Ren's rant before he could even get started. "How many of the Seiryuu have been found, and who are they?"

"Myself, Miboshi and Tomo are the only ones. Miboshi has been trying to find the twins for about six months, with no luck... and as far as we've been able to tell, there's a chance that Soi may have died a few years ago in a car accident. We don't know that for certain, though." His eyes grew dark as he said that, but it passed quickly.

Cheree noticed it, however, and it didn't take her long to realize why. No matter what had happened, or how he cared for Ryan now... he still had feelings for Soi carried over from the past. She moved to change the subject then, clearing her throat. "Alright... so we've got one of the shinzaho... I know about this one and the mirror, but what are the other two?"

"They were relics from the summoning of Seiryuu and Suzaku. One is a ring, the other a ribbon that somehow managed to survive over time."

It made sense, really... if the other summonings had left these relics behind, why shouldn't the Suzaku and Seiryuu summonings do the same? "Okay..." She continued. "So we've got one, and Miboshi can't summon Sieryuu without either all of the seishi, or all four shinzaho?"

Nicholas nodded towards her, and neither of them failed to notice that the others in the room breathed a near audible sigh of relief. "Which means that when they realize what I've done, they will start looking for me. They don't know of you yet, or of the Suzaku seishi, although we've known for a while that if we were being reborn then chances were good that the Suzaku had as well."

Lovely...

"Wait a minute..." Cheree blinked, looking up to Nicholas then. "Even if I get all seven seishi... we don't have the scroll! Won't I need all four shinzaho as well?"

The blond sank into his chair, stunned. The thought had never crossed his mind at all. "Dear gods..."

No one made a sound... but Cheree looked over to Mark and the others, seeing four pairs of eyes looking at her in concern. If they had to get the other three shinzaho from Miboshi... then chances were that their element of surprise would truly be blown. None were expecting Nicholas's next words.

"I'll go back... and act as though nothing has happened. You have two days to get the rest of the seishi back here, and I'll return with the other three shinzaho. Even if the others haven't returned, you'll be able to perform the summoning without them."

Cheree just nodded, eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. Perform the summoning... without Chris. She closed her eyes then, her hands moving along Tama-Neko's body as she fought to keep the tears at bay. *Please, Chris...* She thought to herself. *Don't make me go through this alone... you have to come back before Nakago does...*

To Chapter 16